Software: "Firefly can recognize lots of things, but it's incredibly, hilariously inconsistent." "Firefly is the one Fire Phone feature you'll want on any phone you're currently using. Let's hope that it gets enough developer support that it isn't just a link to Amazon's storefronts." "First, and to be absolutely clear, Dynamic Perspective will impress you the first time you see it, and Amazon is pretty good at showing it off. ... But if there's some cool, useful functionality to be had from super-aggressive, super-accurate face tracking, the Fire Phone doesn't have it." Conclusion: "Smartphones are for work, for life. They're not toys, they're tools. Amazon doesn't understand that, and the Fire Phone doesn't reflect it."

From what I've read on/. the phone is nothing more then an attempt to create a 24/7365 advertising device for their own ego centric needs. There a cheap ass company to begin with, why would people expect something like their Kindle, or Fire Phone to be any different.

The NSA is literal being helped by the makers and service providers. And they should be the least of your concerns with the US and its other agencies, and throw in local/state law enforcement into that mix.

If you don't want to listen to nerds or think this site has a bad bias, then the comment section probably isn't for you. Whenever you get a group of like minded individuals together, you are obviously going to get biased opinions reflecting their mindset. That isn't always a bad thing.

That is untrue. There may be prevailing opinions on this site, but everyone is free to publish and read the contrary opinions and there is no agenda at work stamping trying to shape public perceptions. Good luck ever seeing or hearing dissenting opinions on Fox news.

I think the specs race is basically over. Apple's specs allow them to make a fast phone in a small body with relatively good battery life. Android phones are generally made with the same 'generic' parts, and have comparable battery life by virtue of having a bigger case to cram a battery in. But all told, the phones are pretty close together, no matter what tricks each company is playing. (And I would argue that battery life is becoming a more dominant spec request as time goes on. I'd much rather have a lo

The CPU and GPU are fine, reports on battery life seem to vary, with excellent results if you turn the 'dynamic perspectives' thing off and don't firefly much, tepid ones if you actually try to use those features; but the screen is genuinely disappointing for a phone in that price range, although the internal storage is better than usual.

There's nothing offensively wrong with it; but the price tag befits a device that is genuinely compelling in some way, which it isn't.

Considering this phone is pretty much a store in your pocket, designed from the ground up to make it easier for people to buy things, Amazon might have a shot at making it sucessful. As long as consumers like buying things...

Unfortunately, while stock android is undeniably Google's little fiefdom, 'FireOS' is a pretty much point-for-point a replacement of hegemonic Google with hegemonic Amazon (somewhat more, arguably, given the 'silk' browser's extensive default reliance on server-side processing).

It is pretty stark how lousy de-googled Android is; but Amazon isn't really here to change the dynamic of effectively closed control of the platform, just who controls it. Getting models with a 'clean' AOSP firmware(typically excl

"Smartphones are for work, for life. They're not toys, they're tools."

Eh, if that were strictly the case, the market would be a lot different. Smartphones are a lot of things: tool, toy, fashion, entertainment.

Exactly.... if that were the case the Windows CE and PalmOS smartphones would have sold a lot better than they did in the early 2000's. They were actually much better suited for real work than Android or the Glitzy iOS interface. The CPU's were weak and they had no 3D acceleration but they were actually USEFUL.

The majority of smartphone users basically treat them as phones they can play games on and check facebook. There's maybe 3 people in my office that know how to use their phone effectively for anyth

The problem are not the devices, Google TV, Rouku, Fire TV.... and now Android TV are solid platforms, very nice to use, very powerfull, with a lot of potential. But the content is the problem. Netflix is good, but people just don't complete erase Live TV from their mind with they use it. Live TV should be a part of any intelligent TV device, broadcaster needs to stop being local and start being World Wide. The broadcaster needs to re-evaluate their buiness to really have a "SmartTV" take off.

I insist that we need the final "YouTube" for Live TV. Let all the broadcast to join it and put their live content on a single WW catalog.

Don't confuse Broadcaster (local, with local ads, and merely 'affiliated' with a network) and the Network (National, with national ads). The broadcasters's business model strongly resembles the car dealerships', and just like Tesla is getting well-funded pushback from the dealers, a proposed change in that model will get pushback from the state and local pols that depend on local TV to advertise in their districts.

That's kind of what the UK's Project Canvas was supposed to do. TV guide entries and on-demand catalogue entries both point to the same object in the database, so if you try to watch a show or movie that's not currently airing, it quietly redirects you to the appropriate streaming service instead. When you throw IPTV support into the mix you suddenly have a platform where there's no functional difference between content coming off the web, HDD, or airwaves, recorded or live. From that it's a short hop to a

It's a way to make the display appear 3D. The camera tracks your face, determines which direction you're looking from, and adjusts the display accordingly. Ideally, it's meant to be 3D without glasses and without the strict distance requirements and eye strain of the 3DS. And according to the reviews, it works well but doesn't really have practical applications other than looking cool.

That's what it does but not why you would want it. Like others here I'm failing to see any utility for this "feature". It's sort of cool as a technology demo but I just can't see any practical use for this. It does sound like a great way to reduce battery life, slow the interface, and create unnecessary bugs however. Possibly with a motion sickness chaser for some folks!

There were rumours before the phone's announcement that it would allow you to look at items in their catalogue at various angles in a natural way. Perhaps the content for that didn't turn up or they realised how time consuming it would be to make a Quicktime VR of every single item they sell.

One potential perk that they didn't think of is automatically orienting the phone's screen to face you without relying on the accelerometer. (If I put my phone down on the desk or hold it at a shallow angle, it doesn't know which way's "up", but the Fire Phone knows where my face is so this shouldn't be a problem.)

This phone from Amazon has the rounded rectangle look ad feel.... How can this be? It violates the patents of Apple. Only genii like Steve Jobs could imagine a rounded rectangle. Now Jeff one-click-patent Bezos is ripping off the intellectual property of Apple...

This phone from Amazon has the rounded rectangle look ad feel.... How can this be? It violates the patents of Apple. Only genii like Steve Jobs could imagine a rounded rectangle. Now Jeff one-click-patent Bezos is ripping off the intellectual property of Apple...

It's an $800 phoneProprietary store (you can't install standard google apps and I doubt your old apps will move to this phone)Performance is about Equal or slightly better to existing phones you can get for $1 on contract like my HTC one(M8) or the Galaxy S5Only new feature is "3D" which, like very "3D" offering in every other product to date, it's not actually 3D, it's fairly annoying, a gimmick and will get turned off within hours of getting the phone.

Had a Kindle I won at a work raffle. The Silk browser was such a huge bag of suck! And they won't let you install a different one. Oh sure, maybe there is a hack for it somewhere, but I couldn't be arsed to find one. I just bought a Nexus 7 and use the kindle to prop a window open.
Wouldn't touch this phone on a bet..